JPS6144787B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention applies to so-called sheet materials (hereinafter also simply referred to as sheets) called copy paper, transfer paper, and recording paper that are carried out from image forming apparatuses such as copying machines, printing machines, and other recording equipment. This relates to a sheet material handling device (hereinafter referred to as a sorter) that handles distribution, accumulation, etc.

In general, a sorter has a sheet material accumulation table (tray group) of about 10 to 20 stages or more, and the sheet materials that are continuously delivered at regular intervals from a device such as a copying machine are transported by a belt conveyor or The sheets are sequentially conveyed and accumulated on a predetermined tray by a plurality of roller means or a conveying means combining these means. In a conventional example in which a group of trays is sequentially moved to an exit of a device, the group of trays is configured by arranging tray pitches at equal intervals, and the entrance of each tray in the group of trays is connected to the tray where multiple stages of sheet materials are loaded. The above is generally comprised of narrow spatial dimensions, which becomes more pronounced as the number of trays increases.

Therefore, there was a drawback that the entrance of the tray became narrow, making it difficult to carry in the sheet material.

Therefore, as a method to improve such drawbacks, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-22643,
The front and rear ends of the tray are moved up and down along the helical groove of the helical cam, and the pitch of the helical groove in the part corresponding to the sheet inlet is made larger than that in other parts so that it faces the sheet inlet. A sheet sorting device has been proposed that increases the spacing between trays. In addition, as shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 51-40140, a plurality of trays are supported on a vertical movement means so that their rear ends can be rotated, and a cam means is provided for inhibiting the movement of the leading end of the trays. proposed a sheet sorting device in which one tray is released from a cam means and dropped to face a sheet inlet every time the entire tray is lowered.

However, in the configuration of the conventional example described above, the distance between the bin trays is widened by moving the bin trays in the vertical direction, so in order to greatly increase the distance between the entrances of the bin trays, it is necessary to increase the amount of vertical movement of the bin trays. There is a disadvantage that the size tends to increase in the height direction.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet material handling device in which the interval between the entrances of bin trays can be greatly increased without hindering miniaturization of the device.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the sheet material handling device of the present invention. In the figure, the sheets to be sorted are discharged from a copying machine, etc. (not shown) after forming images, and are introduced into a conveyance guide 1 of a sorter, and are conveyed by a conveyance means consisting of two conveyance rollers 2 and 3, as shown in FIG. In this case, it is stored in the corresponding tray ₄₆ . Note that the conveyance roller 2
Needless to say, and 3 can also be used as a discharge roller of a copying machine or the like. Tray group 4 ₁・4 ₂ ...4 ₅・
4, ₆ ...4, _9, and 4 _{, 10} are supported by swing arms 6, 6' that swing around swing fulcrums 5, 5', and are capable of parallel movement. The swing fulcrum 5 moves together with the tray support plate 7. The elevating member 8 can move up and down along the guide groove 91 of the support column ₉ by at least a distance corresponding to the distance from the tray ₄₁ to the tray ₄₁₀ . A chain (or wire, etc.) 12 is fixedly attached to the upper end of a chain receiving member 11 fixed to the lifting member 8, and the chain 12 is deflected by an idle sprocket 13 located above and connected to a sprocket 15 at the shaft end of a motor 14 located below. The other end of the chain 12 is fixed to the lower end of the chain receiving member 11 via a spring 16. Therefore, if the motor 14 is rotated clockwise in the figure, the tray groups 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ . . . will rise together with the elevating member 8.

Furthermore, notch grooves 17 are provided in the elevating member 8 at equal intervals between the trays, and a position detection sensor 18 fixed to the column 9 detects that the sheet receiving opening of the tray corresponding to an arbitrary tray is located at the movable roller 2. . Also, the movable roller 2,
Sheet detection sensors 19 and 20 are arranged between the nip portion of No. 3 and the tray across the sheet conveyance path to detect the passage of a sheet, and detect that a sheet is stored in one of the tray groups. be able to.

Next, to explain the operation of the sorter, initially, as the motor 14 rotates clockwise in the drawing, the tray groups 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ . . . are raised to the top, and the trays 4
When the position detection sensor 18 detects that the sheet receiving port ₁ corresponds to the nip portion of the movable rollers 2 and 3, the motor 14 is stopped by an appropriate control circuit, and the electromagnetic brake (not shown) is stopped. ) is held in the uppermost position. Alternatively, it is also possible to use a configuration in which the motor is rotated for a certain period of time using a suitable timer and the sensor is omitted. When an electromagnetic brake is used, a notch ₈₁ and a swinging member 2 as shown in FIG. 3 are used to prevent the tray group from descending due to its weight and to ensure accurate positioning.
3, it can be stopped.

Therefore, when the sheet detection sensors 19 and 20 detect that a sheet has been carried into the tray ₄₁ and is stored in the tray 41 by the movable rollers ₂ and 3, the motor 14 is activated in the opposite direction as shown in the figure after detecting the trailing edge of the sheet. When the tray ₄₂ is rotated clockwise, the notch groove 17 corresponding to the tray 42 is detected by the position sensor 18, the motor is stopped at the corresponding position, and an electromagnetic brake is applied. The tray group ₄₂ then waits to receive sheets.

After the above-described operations are repeated as many times as necessary, the tray group is returned to the initial state, which is the uppermost position, by a return signal.

A spring 16 connected to the chain 12 absorbs shock and changes in the length of the chain 12 over time.

FIG. 2 shows a position detection member (scale) 8 ₂ formed on an elevating member 8 that moves together with the tray group of the present invention, and two detection means fixed to a support column facing the position detection member 8 ₂ . (Sensor) 18
₁ and ₁₈₂ are detailed views. Position detection member 8 ₂
is provided in a recess corresponding to the tray member,
Detection member 18 ₁ facing the position detection member 8 ₂
and ₁₈₂ are composed of, for example, a combination of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and are designed to detect the recessed portion of the position detection member ₈₂ corresponding to each tray.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the tray group moving part of the present invention, and shows a state in which a claw (swinging member) 23 is in contact with a notch 81 provided in an elevating member (frame) ₈ , and is indicated by a broken line. The claw 23' is shown released from the frame 8. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the trays are shifted downward, but in the example shown in FIG. 3, the trays are sequentially shifted upward.
The pawl 23 rotates with a pawl shaft 24 as a rotation support shaft, and
and 23'. To move the tray group, when the tray group returns from the uppermost position or an arbitrary position to the initial lowermost position, the solenoid 29 is energized to hold the claw 23 at the position 23' of the wiring, and the claw 23 and This is done by disengaging the notch ₈₁ . It should be noted that while the tray is being raised one by one, the solenoid 29 does not need to be operated at all, and the pawl 23 bites into the tray frame 8 by the return spring 30 fixed to the case. In the example shown in Figure 3, if there is an overrun of the frame 8 by about 5 mm, the pawl 23 will automatically enter the notch ₈₁ on the frame 8 side, and when the motor is stopped, the frame 8 will automatically move under its own weight. Returning and pushing the stop pawl 23 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, the pawl 23 comes into contact with the stop 26 and is stopped at a predetermined position for positioning. Therefore, it is sufficient to form the notch ₈₁ in the tray frame 8 at a position that aligns the movable roller 2 or 3 with the tray entrance. Furthermore,
Needless to say, if the tray itself has this notch ₈₁ , the accuracy will be further improved.

Note that the detection sensor 18 ₁ explained in FIG.
This pawl 23 is also effective when positioning is performed using ₁₈₂ and an electromagnetic brake. That is, when the power is turned off, the electromagnetic brake is cut off and the tray group falls down unnecessarily, but if this pawl 23 is provided, it will work as a stopper, so it will easily fulfill its role even when the power is turned off. You'll understand. However, you must be careful that in this case, the electrically detected stop position and the mechanical stop position will change, and in this figure, the stop position will change by approximately 5 mm.
However, by appropriately selecting the shape of the pawl 23 and the pawl shaft 24, it can be configured to 2 mm or less, which is within a sufficient practical range.

Next, tray 4 _{1.4 2} ...4 _{5.4 6} ...4 _9.4
The mechanism for moving ₁₀ in parallel will be explained using FIG.

In FIG. 4, the trays are shown sequentially shifted upwards as in FIG. 3. Swinging arm 6,
The tray groups 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ . . . are swingably supported via the trays 6 ′. One end of the swinging arm is connected to the tray, and a roller 32 is attached to the other end. The roller 32 is a cam plate 3 fixed to the support 9.
3 and moves up and down along the outer shape of the cam plate. The cam plate 33 has a step as shown in the figure at the entrance consisting of the two conveyor rollers 2 and 3, and is at the 4 ₄ ' position when it is detected that a sheet has entered the tray 4 ₃ . The tray to be used is 32
is guided by the outer shape of the plate cam 33, so it is in a state where it is translated in parallel to the position ₄₄ . Since this operation is performed sequentially for all trays, the tray into which a sheet is about to be loaded is always larger in pitch than the other trays.

As described above, the sheet material handling device according to the present invention is configured to widen the interval between trays by moving the trays in parallel, so each tray is also shifted in the conveyance direction, making the sheet entrance wider. As a result, the structure is simple and sheets can be easily carried into the tray.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the sorter, Figure 2 is its top view, Figure 3 is a sectional view of the moving part of the tray group, and Figure 4 is a sectional view of the sorter.
The figure is a sectional view showing a mechanism for moving the tray group in parallel. 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ ... are trays, 5, 5' are swinging fulcrums,
6, 6' are swing arms, 23 is a claw, 24 is a claw shaft,
26 is a stopper, 30 is a return spring, 32 is a roller, and 33 is a cam plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 A plurality of trays are vertically arranged on a tray support means, and the plurality of trays are integrally moved in the vertical direction by vertical movement of the tray support means, and the plurality of trays are In a sheet material handling device that distributes sheet materials by sequentially aligning one of the trays with a sheet transport port, the sheet material is carried in, a plurality of supporting means supporting each tray so as to be movable in parallel on the tray supporting means, and a sheet material being carried in. cam means for moving one tray in parallel each time the plurality of trays move in the vertical direction so that the interval between the tray and the tray above it is wider than the interval between the other trays; A sheet material handling device comprising: .